Welcome to Issue #89 of SIN.
It's come a little early this year, but it appears the rainy season is upon us. Might not seem like it means much for the sake industry, but an early rainy season is often an indicator of an impending long summer, which may have an effect on the rice harvest for the year.
For the rest of us in Japan right now, the rainy season simply means an early onset of intolerable humidity. It's the perfect time to reach for those light-bodied, lower alcohol summer sake releases to ease the discomfort.
And now for the news...
Community Brings Brewery Back From The Brink
Fukuoka- A brewery in the small village of Toho in Fukuoka Prefecture is on its way to reclaiming some of its former glory thanks to the help of kindly locals.
Kataoka Shuzō was established 125 years ago operating as the sole brewery in the area, which enjoyed prosperity for many years due to the local mining industry. However, as commerce caught up, the mines closed, and the population began slowly dwindling away along with sales of the local sake. Eventually around fifty years ago the brewery ceased physical brewing operations, but continued business by selling sake contract-produced by other breweries under its own label.
In July 2017, heavy rain hit the region causing widespread flooding and damage to the brewery and stocks of sake in the warehouse. The extent of the damage forced fourth generation kuramoto, Hiroyuki Kataoka to strongly consider closing the business completely. However, the local community rallied around the troubled brewery, volunteering time and labor to help rebuild and clean up the damage from the flood. With the support of his town behind him, Kataoka was inspired to not just revive the business, but to return to onsite brewing of the family sake.
In April 2020, with the help of community support, Kataoka rented some nearby terraced rice paddies and began growing sake rice.
Last month Kataoka Shuzō was able to reveal the fruits of its efforts with a kurabiraki festival, where the brewery opened its doors to all those who have been supporting its return.
Under the label, Tōhō Ikkon, Kataoka Shuzō has now released a range of junmai and junmai ginjō sake representing a new phase for the brewery.
JG: Sakagura (sake breweries) have long been an integral part of towns and villages all over Japan; remember that there were upwards of 30,000 sakagura in the early 1900s. So it is so cool to see a town step up to turn around a dormant brewery. But mostly I admire the ambition and energy of Hiroyuki Kataoka. I would welcome the chance to sit down and drink some sake with the gent.
片岡酒造 , 東峰一献
The King Is Back
Hyogo- The forecast for production of Yamada Nishiki in Hyogo Prefecture is looking good with a 24% increase over 2022. This year's production plan increased by 2520 tons to a total of 12,900 tons for 2023.
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